


The Snowman

by mysticalflute



Series: Mistletoe and Holly [6]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:21:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27930691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysticalflute/pseuds/mysticalflute
Summary: Emma, Neal, and Henry decorate their home for the first time as a family.
Relationships: Baelfire | Neal Cassidy/Emma Swan
Series: Mistletoe and Holly [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035177
Kudos: 6





	The Snowman

Everything about this Christmas felt strange. For starters, she had people around to celebrate with her that weren’t also fighting over the one gift they would be granted that year

She had… a family, friends. People that she actually wanted to be around and that she knew loved her and she loved them. She was actually enjoying the whole season, including learning about Hanukkah and celebrating that with her parents and brother. Learning alongside her brother was actually fun.

Normal.

And then there was the little house in Storybrooke she and Neal had found together. The relationship was still new, but it just felt so  _ natural _ . Yes, it was odd that their son was going back and forth between their home and Regina’s like some sort of divorced-parents thing, but everyone was happy, and Emma’s heart was filled with so much joy, she wasn’t exactly sure what she was supposed to do with it.

She supposed decorating was an easy enough place to start, and so their Victorian home was beginning to look like something she’d mocked in a magazine for years. But now it was hers and she… was starting to understand why people liked Christmas and decorating so much.

The biggest thing they needed to get was a tree, and with Storybrooke being so remote (even if they weren’t in a town with fairy tale creatures, Storybrooke would be as remote as you could get), that led to lots of options… which led to Henry having lots of opinions about the tree itself.

“Okay bud, I know Emma can just teleport the tree back to the house, but we can’t get one that rivals the one in the center of town… our ceilings are only nine feet tall,” Neal said with a laugh.

Henry let out a groan, crossing his arms as he paused in front of a tree that would fit in the house. “Fine. We can get this one then.”

After quickly checking it out, Emma and Neal agreed, and the trio went back to their new home.

The decorations were a mishmash of things that she and Neal had been gifted by their family and friends, and handmade ornaments her mother had wanted to do as a family project. They made little sense, and the Disney ones had her torn between laughter and groaning, but they were theirs, and Emma loved them.

Except the Peter Pan one that had been given to them by the well-meaning Mother Goose. That one had promptly met its end in their fireplace later that night.

“Can I give you guys a present early?” Henry asked after the garland and lights were hung up.

Emma blinked in surprise. “Oh - uh, I don’t mind. Neal?”

“Sure, bud.”

Henry grinned, rushing to grab it before coming back downstairs. The box was older, fragile, and Emma took it delicately into her hands, moving the paper away and revealing the contents.

It was a wooden snowman, sloppily painted. The snowman’s scarf reached the bottom of the ornament, the orange what she assumed was supposed to be a carrot nose the same way. The eyes were blue instead of black, and Emma could only picture what the table under it must have looked like when the paint job was finished.

The very bottom of the ornament read  _ Henry Mills, 2007 _ .

Emma’s eyes grew wide. “Henry, is this - ”

Henry nodded. “Yeah… I painted it when I was in kindergarten. Mom said I could give that one to you and dad,” he explained with a shrug. “I thought you’d want something of mine from when I was younger.”

Tears rolled down Emma’s cheeks, and she could see Neal’s eyes were misty as well. “Oh kid, it’s perfect,” she said, pulling him in for a hug. “Come on, why don’t we all hang it together?”

Henry nodded, stepping up to the tree, each of them with a hand on the ornament as they carefully placed it.

“Looks perfect,” Neal said. “Let’s get the others on, yeah?”

Their “first Christmas” ornament went right next to Henry’s, and then came the other assorted ones they’d collected. She made a mental note to ask Elsa what she and Anna thought of them having ornaments of themselves hanging from her tree.

The tree wasn’t exactly traditional, but as Emma observed it from the sidewalk later that night, seeing the house and swan tree topper glistening in the window, she knew it didn’t matter, as long as they were together.


End file.
